ReviewInternational journal of molecular sciences2026
Cord-Derived Stem Cells for Pediatric Autism Spectrum Disorder: Biological Rationale and Source-Specific Trial Design.
Review in International journal of molecular sciences, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Authors and funding
2 authors.
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Abstract
Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) affects approximately 1 in 31 children, yet no pharmacological agent targets its core symptoms, leaving a substantial therapeutic gap. Umbilical cord-derived mesenchymal stem/stromal cells (UC-MSCs) have emerged as a biologically rational candidate, because their immunomodulatory, anti-inflammatory, and neurotrophic properties align with the chronic neuroinflammation, peripheral immune dysregulation, and microglial overactivation that characterize ASD pathophysiology. This review synthesizes the mechanistic rationale, tissue-source biology, manufacturing and characterization standards, preclinical evidence, and clinical trial landscape for cord-derived cell therapy in pediatric ASD, and examines administration routes, post-treatment monitoring, and long-term safety. Across five published clinical trials employing cord blood mononuclear cells, autologous and allogeneic umbilical cord blood, UC-MSCs, bone marrow-derived MSCs, and Wharton's jelly-derived MSCs, short-term safety is the most consistent finding, whereas efficacy remains unresolved owing to small sample sizes, single-arm designs, and heterogeneous outcome measures; a completed randomized Phase II trial of a cord tissue MSC product, reported to date only in the trial registry, did not meet its primary endpoint. The central argument advanced here is that the proposed active component of cord-derived therapy is the purified MSC population rather than the heterogeneous mononuclear cell fraction; this proposition is supported by the CD14
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Registered trials
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